Sword Masters: Two Champions Of Shaolin *Shaw Bothers*

I can finally get rid of my pan & scan bootleg quality DVD, and I have Sword Masters to thank. First, it's directed by the Godfather of HK movies, Chang Cheh; second, it's got the Venoms in it. 'Nuff said. Despite missing Philip Kwok (Kuo Chui), he is listed as the head choreographer. Kuo was having "ego" issues with Lu Feng, and he got so angry he refused to appear in it. In spite of his absence, it's still a great film; I feel it's superior to "Showdown at the Cotton Mill" ("Two Champions..." is sort of modeled after that). Lo Mang got to show his leading man talent, and Chin Siu-Hou (Fist of Legend) got his big break. The 15 minute end fight is not to be missed. I don't know too much about "Sword Masters" (they're doing Chang's 1970 classic "Heroic Ones" as well), but they did a decent job here. Remastered, widescreen, uncut and your choice of Mandarin or English. I'd go with the Mandarin because not only are the subtitles well done, but the English track sounded a bit muffled. I think it's fabulous that these classic Shaw Brothers movies are being re-issued like this.

Again, another DVD sleeve playing up a minor character, cool as his weaponry is; if this flick has four of the "Venoms" troupe in it, put some--or all--of THEM on the cover!...Wierd to watch this movie without Kuo Chui onscreen (at least he's behind the scenes on fight choreography, owing to conflicts with Lu Feng); it's a safe bet he'd be playing the Lo Meng part if circumstances allowed, and it's even more certain he'd give more nuances to the role than Lo Meng did (give Lo an "A" for effort, though). Still, when the newcomer gets through this Well Go USA release, they will appreciate the Image-quality picture, survive a Mandarin dub where the sound has been "enhanced" during [mainly] fight scenes (bound to be off-putting to purists, but it'll have to do until this reissue gets a do-over, if at all), and enjoy four "Venoms" in a story where director Cheh goes back to "Heroes Two" territory, more or less (with a scene that will make some recall "Showdown at the Cottonmill"). With the "Venoms", and their usual slate of supporting actors, this lifts the rating from 3 stars to 4. Beginners may want their first "Venoms" DVD to be ANOTHER release, however ("The Five Venoms" being the logical start)!

This Shaw Brothers' Classic features the legendary Five Venoms (who first appeared on screen in the Five Venoms), and whose wushu skills got them inducted into Shaw Brothers' Hall of Fame, and were therefore featured in innumerable Shaw Brothers’ movies - with four of the Venoms appearing on screen and the fifth assuming the role of martial arts director, in a story that is heavily based on Chinese history revolving around the Shaolin Temples’ conflict with Wu Dang Clan and The Head of the Shaolin Temple sending his disciples out to bid their time before challenging the Manchu Dynasty, since they were Ming loyalists, with two of the Venoms disobeying his orders and seeking revenge, thereby, hastening the war between the Ming loyalists and those who were loyal to the Manchus, with all the Shaolin disciples being slaughtered in the typical fashion of Shaw Brothers’ movies where the heroes always die at the end of the movie, save for two Shaolin disciples who leave the scene after they had defeated their enemies.

Nicely features 4 of the 5 Venom actors. Great martial arts fighting scenes. Recommended viewing!Note on the DVD -- picture quality isn't as good as other Shaw Brothers DVD releases. It's a notch above VHS but not bad.

Another SHAW BROTHERS hit it may start a little slow but then the action really picks up it's a great movie and yes has The Venoms in it definitely would recommend this and especially for your collection definitely worth the $ and time I will probably have a day were I watch THE 5 DEADLY VENOMS and this and other movies with the VENOM mob in them

I dont see why this movie received so many high scores. Just because it has some of the venoms? This movie is mediocre at best. No classic and it doesnt deserve even a 3.5. I dont have the time to really explain. But the kung fu isnt as good as it is in other venom movies. The storyline is good but the ending is mediocre. Its only worth a rental if you're a fan of the genre. Its about to get donated to the salvation army.

👌

Pretty good film. Good Kung Fu action. nice story. Fun to watch the Pre-Venom squad inaction.

To avenge his father's death,Shaolin expert Chiang Sheng kills two Wu Tang swordsman.This action leads to increasingly brutal and bloody battles between the two factions,which Culminates in an extended battle between the two sides.The end fight is outstanding as we get to see Lu Feng and his monkey pole fighters taking on Chiang Sheng,Lo Meng and the rival clan members.What lets this film down is the middle section which is badly paced,lacking in action and not really that engaging.Like I say overall not the best film that the Venoms' have ever made,but worth sticking with for the exciting end fight.Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoy the film.

Very good

Filmed in (1978) Shao Lin yu Wu Dang (Hong Kong: Cantonese title) or The "Two Champions of Shaolin" (Hong Kong: English Dubbed title) reunites legendary martial arts director Chang Cheh with the Shaw Brothers Studios for more martial arts mayhem. Once again this Venoms kung fu cult classic pits the Manchu hating Shaolin masters against the Wutang warriors in an all out fight to the death. During the rein of the Ching Dynasty the anti Ching Shaolin masters are at constant odds with the deadly and highly combatative Wutang warriors who are in favor of the Ching government and against the Shaolin masters at all costs.After his parents are killed a young Manchu named Tung Chien-Chin (Lo Meng) is accepted into the sacred Shaolin Temple despite being a Manchu and the very thing the Shaolin masters despise. When the time comes he is sent out to find the highly skilled Shaolin martial artist Wu Hui-Kan (Chiang Sheng) for a secret anti-Ching assignment. Upon his arrival in Guangzhou, Tung is confronted by the very lethal Wutang fighter Li De-chung (Yu Tai-ping) and during their frantic encounter Tung is injured from Li's deadly flying knives attack.With the aide of Chin Pi-erh (Yang Tsing-tsing) and her brother Chin Tai-Lai (Sun Chien), Tung soon recovers from his injury and learns a valuable defense technique to combat Li's deadly flying knives attack. After a random encounter between Tung and Wu they realize that Li has seen them together and the two set out to rid themselves of Li for good. When the Wutang fighter Li is eliminated by Tung and Wu they are quickly confronted by Li's brother Li Pa-shan (Wang Li) and his men as they seek revenge for their fallen comrade. The two quickly realize they're in for the fight of their life. Later on Tung also proposes marriage to Pei and during their celebration the Wu Tang fighters wage an all out attack killing Pei and her brother and kidnapping Tung in the process. Will Tung be able to free himself from his captors and exact his revenge or will help come from an unlikely source, you'll have to check it out for yourself to see how it ends.The "Two Champions of Shaolin" released by Well Go USA under the Sword Masters name boasts a beautiful wide screen video transfer. After closer inspection of the disc its clear the video transfer is from the Celestial Pictures version and that's a bonus for fans of this movie. Once again the sound on this Well Go USA edition is not so great and could have been done much better. It seems that something was out of sync when the soundtrack was being done on the English dubbed version and it's inconsistent, muffled and plagued with problems to say the least. Make no mistake; this is a five star Shaw Brothers movie, but once again I had to take off a star for the sound problems.DVD Features:- Play Movie- Scene Selection- Language Options- Chinese- English 5.1- Subtitle Options- Chinese- English- None- Trailer